Intro:

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes believes his former side Manchester United are still contenders for the English Premier League but warned on Tuesday (30th December) "they can't afford to have any more slip-ups or lose too many games".

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Mark Hughes, Stoke City manager (Q: Will there be any outgoings in the January transfer window given there is always speculation around Ryan Shawcross and Asmir Begovic?)

"We're not encouraging any bids on any of our players and that won't change in January and it won't change in the summer. Obviously clubs might have something, other clubs might have something to say about that and be persistent but we don't encourage it. We've had no bids for those two players up to this point and we don't anticipate we'll have bids in the January window either."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Mark Hughes, Stoke City manager (Q: Are Manchester United title contenders?)

"Well I think so, whether or not they've given themselves a little bit too much to do. I think they, what are they, ten points in arrears at the moment and there's some very strong teams ahead of them. They are getting into a run of form now, which will encourage them and that's what they need to do. They can't afford to have any more slip-ups or lose too many games. Hopefully we'll be able to overcome them, if we do that, that will be four defeats I think. I think historically you can't afford any more than six to seven and if you have that many defeats in a season it's almost impossible to win the Premier League."